Turning the Colored Pencil Jar

I’ve had this blank sitting in the shop ready to turn for over a year and finally jumped on it! Unfortunately, as you’ll see in the video, the first attempt ended in tragedy… The blank flew off the lathe while I was parting it off. Luckily, the second try was a success!

Creating the blank took a little ingenuity to get the pencils suspended in the resin. I created a jig that holds the pencils in place offset from the side of the cup mold. Keep your eyes peeled for next week’s video showing how I cast the blank.

I’m really happy with the frosted look of the piece, and it was super easy to create that effect. Basically, just sand the blank up to around 1,500 grit, and you’re done! Clear Alumilite looks like frosted glass when not fully polished to a high gloss.